In speaking the word for owl, Bud Lane, one of about 10 remaining and fluent Athabaskan speakers, reveals the importance of saving languages.

When spoken aloud, the word, svs-tee-lii-chu, starts out quietly, progresses to a drawn out, almost surreptitious emphasis on the “lii” syllable and finishes quickly. It gives the listener a sense that owls are best spoken about in whispers, lest the speaker draw the attention of one.

BILLINGS, Mont. — A 95-year-old Crow Indian who wore war paint into battle beneath his World War II uniform and later became an acclaimed Native American historian will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom next month.

President Obama will give the nation's highest civilian honor to Joe Medicine Crow and 15 other recipients on Aug. 12. Obama met Medicine Crow during a campaign stop last year, when the then-candidate became an honorary member of the Crow tribe

Tam Smith leads her sister, Tawny Shepherd, west on Illinois 164 Tuesday morning. The women left Burlington, Michigan July 7th and will end their journey in Burlington, Colorado in October. Tawny Shepherd has stage four cancer and hopes to meet with a medicine man in Burlington who has promised a cure. The women average 20 miles a day with their rickshaws, each loaded with 150 pounds of gear.>>>

The Ashland County Jail has a new policy about using medicine bags in jail. Brittany Berrens reports that this may be the first Wisconsin county to have rules on this culturally sensitive issue.

Medicine bags usually contain sage and tobacco and are sometimes worn by Native Americans for prayer. Inmates at the Ashland County jail were normally allowed to wear these pouches, that is, until suspicion that the pouches were used to hide tattoo making supplies arose. >>>